Process for plating



G. H. PINNEY.

PROCESS FOR PLATING.

APPLICATION FILED OCT. 26. 192:.

L26 769n Patented Aug. 22, 1922 MZIINTOA ga 7 career castes.

GEORGE E. JPINNEY, OF SOUTH MANCHESTER, CONNECTICUT, ASSIGNOR TO THE WILLIAMS BROTHERS MANUFACTURING COMPANY, OF GLASTONBURY, CON- NECTIGUT, A COEIPORATION OF CONNECTICUT.

PROCESS FOR PLATING.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Aug. 22, 1922.

To aZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, GEORGE H. Pruner, a citizen of the United States, and a resldent of South Manchester, in the county of Hartford and State of Connecticut, have invented a new and Improved Process for Plating, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to the plating of metallic articles and especially to the plating of articles of tableware, and an object of my invention, among others, is to provide an improved process whereby extra plating may be applied to portions of articles in an expeditious and particularly eflicient manner and in a way to improve the quality of the product.

One way of carrying my improved process into efl'ect and in the practice of which the objects herein set out, as well as others, may be attained, is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a view of a spoon illustrating a vacuum cup applied to the bottom of the bowl in one step of my improved process.

Figure 2 is a view in section through a plated spoon and a vacuum cup applied.

thereto and showing wax applied to the spoon in another step of my improved process, the thickness of the wax being exaggerated and the plate independently of the spoon not being shown.

Figure 3 is a plan view of a spoon in another step in my improved process and showing the vacuum cup removed.

Figure 4 is a plan view of a spoon plated in accordance with my improved process.

Figure 5 is a View in section, scale enlarged, through the bowl of the spoon showing the plating as applied by my improved process, the thickness of the plating being exaggerated.

My invention has to do more especially with applying an extra thickness of plate, as silver, to plated articles and especially those of silverware, and as such extra thickness of plating is commonly applied to the bottom of the bowls of spoons I have selected such an article for the purpose of illustrating and describing my invention herein.

Prior to my invention it has been common practice in applying an extra plate, e pecially to the bottoms of the bowls of spoons, to first plate the entire spoon in the ordinary manner and then insert that part of the bowl of the spoon that it is desired to supply with the extra plate in the electrolyte.- A result of this practice, however, is that some of the original plate immediately surrounding the portion containing the extra plate is removed so that the part of the spoon immediately bounding the ex-. tra plated portion is supplied with a. thinner plate than the rest of the spoon, this reduction of the plate unavoidably taking place during the process of applying the extra plate. It is a purpose of my improved process to evenly plate the spoon up to the very edge of the extra plated part so that there shall be no portions outside of the extra plate portions having a thinner plate than other portions, and at the same time I effect my purpose in a manner requiring a minimum amount of labor and trouble. The manner of practicing my improved process is illustrated in the accompanying drawing in which the numeral 6 denotes the bowl of a spoon that has been plated in the usual manner in plating the entire spoon. As a first step in practicing my improved process I apply a vacuum cup 7 of a shape to cover that part of the bottom of the bowl of the plated spoon to which an extra plate is to be applied, this cup having a manipulating handle 8. This cup is applied to the bottom of the bowl of the plated spoon, as illustrated in Figure 1, the vacuum within the cup holding it firmly in place, and such vacuum insures that there can be no space about the edge of the cup for the entrance of material within which the spoon is subsequently treated.

After the vacuum cup has been applied, as illustrated in Figure 1, the spoon is dipped in wax or other material to protect it from .subsequent plating o erations, this wax being shown at 9 in Figure 2 of the drawings, the thickness of the wax being exaggerated in order to clearly illustrate it. In this process the wax is applied to the bowl and the shank 10f of the spoon only. After the spoon is removed from the melted wax coated with a thin layer thereof, and as illustrated in Figure 2, the vacuum cup is removed leaving the part 11 thereunder, which was covered by the cup, clean and free from wax and in a prime only the spot 11.

condition for further plating. The spoon is now suspended within the electrolyte to a oint sufficiently to cover the spot 11, and the plate is applied in the ordinary manner, such plating, however, affecting After this plating has been applied the spoon is removed from the plating bath and the Wax is removed from the spoon, as by dipping it in hot water, or otherwise, and the spoon is then in the condition illustrated in Figure 4 with the extra thickness 12 of plating applied upon the regular plated layer 13, the plated portions 12 and 13 being illustrated to an exaggerated extent in Figure 5 of the drawing, and the boundary of the thickness 12 of which may be determined by close inspection, this feature being desirable as enhancing the sale of the articles.

By the use of my improved process the vacuum on is first applied to the spoon, the spoon 1s then dipped in melted wax, that is permitted to harden and the vacuum cup being removed no labor is required to clean that part of the article underneath the cup to receive the extra plate.

he article is then subjected to the plating bath and after plating is taken out and the Wax is removed as by heat, preferably as embodied in hot water, and the spoon is then ready for the subsequent finishing operation of burnishing, &c.

While dipping in a bath has been mentioned herein as a means for applying the plating resisting material, it is not essential to the invention that the articles shall be dipped in the bath for such application as the material may be applied in different Ways, and, further, while wax has been referred to as such material, any other material that will accomplish the purpose of preventing the plating of other parts covered will answer the purpose as Well.

I claim- 1. The process of plating that consists in applying,a removable cover to a portion of the article to be plated, then applying a plating resisting material to the article around said cover, then removing said cover, and thenplating the uncovered portion of the article.

2. The process of plating that consists inapplying a permanently formed cover to the article to be plated, then applying a plate resisting material to the article around said cover, and then removing said cover and electroplating the space formerly covered by said cover.

3. The process of plating that consists in covering a portion of the article to be plated, then dipping the article in a bath of platin the artic le from said bath and the cover from said article, then submerging the article in a plating bath to apply a plate thereto, and then removing the article from said plating bath and the plating resisting material from the article.

4. The process of plating that consists in first applying a plate to the article, then applying a removable cover to a portion of said plated surface, then applying a plating resisting material to the article around said cover, then removing said cover, then plating the uncovered portion of the article, and then removing said material.

5. That step in the process of plating that consists in applying a vacuum cup to the surface of the article to be plated, then applying a plating resisting material around said cup, then removing the cup, then plating the surface formerly covered by the cup, and then removing s'aid material.

6. That step in the process of plating that consists in applying a vacuum cup to the surface of the article to be plated, then submerging the article and cup in a bath of plating resisting material, and afterwards plating the surface covered by said cup.

' GEORGE H. PINNEY.

resistin material then removin 

